Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

John Oliver criticises Devin Nunes and Donald Trump over 'Stupid Watergate'

 'It has all the potential consequences of Watergate, but everyone involved is really stupid'

Jack Shepherd
Monday 03 April 2017 05:37 EDT
Comments
John Oliver criticises Devin Nunes over 'Stupid Watergate'

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

John Oliver may have started this season Last Week Tonight hoping to not talk about President Donald Trump every week, but with so much controversy, it’s been difficult not to.

This week, Oliver decided to tackle the Russian scandal, AKA “Stupid Watergate,” named as such “because it has all the potential consequences of Watergate, but everyone involved is really stupid.”

The ex-Community actor honed in on House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes (“the most ‘Devin’ Devin in the history of Devins”), who allegedly had evidence backing up Trump’s claims Obama used wiretapping during the election campaign.

However, it quickly unravelled that Nunes - who is leading investigations into Trump’s Russian ties - was citing sources that came from the White House. That, however, didn’t stop Nunes rushing to the White House to tell Trump about the ‘evidence’.

“Okay so, to recap: Devin Nunes took what appears to be an unnecessary trip to tell what appears to be unimportant news to what may have been the source of the news itself,” Oliver said. “So what Nunes brought to light has turned out to be a bunch of smoke and mirrors as convoluted as it is pointless. Truly, it is now the Now You See Me of revelations.”

“But wait, because Stupid Watergate found a way to get even stupider,” Oliver explained. “The surveillance Nunes was studying concerned the Trump transition team, of which one member was – yeah, you guessed it ­– Devin f*cking Nunes. Which seems like a pretty clear conflict of interest.”

Oliver capped off the opening monologue by targeting one last Republican: Ted Yoho, who attempted to defend Nunes by saying Congress members work for the President, rather than constituents.

“No! You absolutely do not! You do one of them, and explicitly not the other! That is literally the point of Congress!” Oliver continued: “And that’s why this story is Stupid Watergate: It could very well take down the government. But nobody involved understands why – or how to cover it up – or what the government f*cking is! Or, possibly, how to breathe without getting regular reminders.”

In previous weeks, Oliver has targeted Trump over *that* handshake with Angela Merkel, the American Health Care Act, and - of course - Stupid Watergate.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in